fish dying in alum. live well Need Help.

[6x]

I have a 07 aluminum boat w/ an aluminum live well. 20-25 gallon. 1st owner. and i never stored anything in the well. I have lost fish every time in it. From the fastest kill (15 minutes) to the slowest

(4.0 hours).  I am speaking of SM bass. I have bleached it 4 times. Each time it gets better. But after

8 outings i am done wasting fish. I am convinced that it is something toxic in the metal or welds.

What are youre thoughts?  

Heres more info. The water temp is the same. I have used frozen bottles of ice. And have a temp. probe in the live well linked to my humminbird.

I have used fish release chemicals to help.

I have a recirc. pump

I have a an oxyenator

I have an fresh water aerator. This past week end i ran it none stop flooding the live well to keep purging fresh water ino it. I called the boat manufacture and of course no complaints from anyone else.

[cart7t]

I had a friend who had an unlined aluminum LW in his tracker.  Fish didn't last long in it.  They just seemed to beat themselves up inside it.

[6x]

Interesting. I fish the susquahanna river in PA. Yesterday i saw very little running time. Mostly drifts due to lower water levels. I believe i am going to replace the live well w/ a plastic liner. Or tank.

It just frustrates me not knowing the answer.

[bassnleo]

Definately wierd....My fishing partner's livewell is also aluminum and we have never lost a fish.

Could there be some sort of electrical source putting a charge in the water?

Other than that, I'm stumped. Your doing all the right things to keep the fish alive.

[6x]

I wonder how i could test for an electrical current? IN the Water.

Last night in frustration the entire unit was removed.

I can still bench test though.

[koko36265]

Is all the bleach getting out completely every time you clean it?  

[6x]

It's a 25 gallon live well. I clean it and then flush it several times With  clean water w/ all the pumps running. Then i leave it in the sun for a day with the lid open. And the tubes etc. laid out to dry.

And lastly then while i fish i use the river water to purge any solvents.

I really am starting to wonder if there is electrical current getting into it.

The tank is fastened to the aluminum floor/ rails with screws.

Earlier this year i went thru 3 lowrance fish finders.

The screen would just feeze. Very Odd because i run the power direct from the crank battery.

Then i switched brands using the same feed. And no problems. This also made no sense.

[Raul]

Dude, after reading: Earlier this year i went thru 3 lowrance fish finders you have a serious electrical problem in your boat, no wonder why you are not only killing fish but also fish finders. You switched brands ( I suppose of fishfinders ) them the other brand must have higher tolerance to electrical issues.

[6x]

Ok, Raul. Say i do have an electrical issue. And say that the alumunum floor/rails are putting current into the live well thru the fastening points of the LW to the floor.

If i  install a plastic live well liner. What if any chance of electrical source could get thru the liner?

I enjoy the boat, other then the live well issue. If i told my dealer about the fish dying i bet he would

say i am nuts.

[6x]

I forgot to add. Thinking it was a toxic from the aluminum. I ran the aerotor pump on manual during

Sundays tornament. This was after i lost fish in the a.m.. Thinking that filling and flushing would purge anything out.

I seem to loose fish just as quick if not quicker.

Could a pump be the cause?

I am grasping here. I am at a total loss on what to do. It is very concerning if it is an electrical source.

The boat blows no fuses. And the only electrical concern was the fish finders. But that was confusing because. I ran the power directly to the crank battery.... The FF was the only device used on that supply WIRE, Of course there other pulling from the crank, but i have a separate dedicated just for the Finder.

[bassnleo]

I would defiantely double check all your wiring and make sure that there isn't bare wire somewhere touching aluminum...

The issue of you going through 3 fishfinders makes me want to think even more that you definately have electrical issues like Raul said.

Could it be your pump? Maybe, since pumps are really not too expensive maybe try to replace / rewire it.

As far as a plastic liner in the livewell, I would consider that as a last option. I think you need to solve the electrical issue.

Man I can see your frustrated, best of luck with your problem, I would feel the same way as you at this point.

[dickenscpa]

I wonder if you could get an inexpensive multimeter and if anything would show up by touching the probe to the water. I would assume it would all be DC current since everything's run off a battery. You could maybe tape the probe where it just touches the water and periodically check if it spikes some voltage. Just attach the black probe (ground) to something metal and the red one just the tip in the water.

If you left the multimeter on all day, it just runs off a 9V battery.

[6x]

Last night i took a DC meter and placed the positive end. To the Hull/frame and the negative to the neg.

post on the CRANK battery. The meter showed 0 voltage. When i turned on all my rocker switches (3)

It read a 1/4 of a volt. This would include the pumps. The voltage was get stronger .5 on each switch.

Totaling .15

Then i did the same thing to my 12-24 trolling batteries. It read 2-2.5 volts. This would mean that the hull

is constantly charged w/ voltage. Low voltage  in deed. If you add water to that, it may increase and be passed to the fish thru the water. Now how much voltage can a smallie handle i dont know.

I an still confused about the fish finders locking up. Because they use Direct ground to the crank battery.

This week end i am going to remove my trolling batteries, and allot of BS to pull my supply wires out. And give them a good inspection.

I still find it hard to belive that i have electrical gremmlins. But first things first. There should be no voltage going to any part of the hull.

What's every one think of the latest update?

Hopefully i figure this kill out. You never know when someone in youre club. Or friend may experience the same thing. At least save a marriage. Last night i said, if i cant figure it out. I am going to the bank again. She just looked @ me. Because  the boat is an only a 1 yr. old.

Thanks, everyone.

[Tpayneful]

6X,

    I would repeat the test except put the red lead on the Positive terminal and the black lead on the Negative terminal on each battery.  You may actually find that one of your negative lines is shorted to the hull somewhere.  If the positve voltage in your livewell pump touches the water in your system it would complete the circuit, electricuting the fish.  The combination of a short to ground and a faulty pump may do it.  Once you verify a current path or short that is unacceptable, start removing devices until the short/voltage goes away.  A short or low resistance load can be caused by switches, connectors, depth finders, lights, pumps, radios, etc.  Also, aluminum boats have a lot of jagged metal inside the boat.  Plenty of people have cut themselves badly adding another wire or cable in the boat.  I would inspect your cables and pass-throughs.  The pass-throughs should have grommets on them to ensure that the wiring doesn't get nicked or shorted.  You have a very strange problem.  

[bassnleo]

6X, please keep us up to date on what you find out. Your experiences may prove to be invaulable to others who have future problems similar to yours.

Best of luck

[Glenn]

Several problems here that are working in concert to cause your problems.

1. You're using bleach to clean out your livewells! That's extremely toxic to bass, even in very low concentrations. Read this article to learn how to properly clean your livewell. And stop using bleach!

2. Are you using Rejuvinade? If so, stop immediately! That stuff kills bass, period. It contains chemicals that stimulate bass. Yes, stimulate. Exactly opposite of what you want to do to a stress-out fish! If it doesn't die in your livewell, it will soon die after the weigh-in. Use "Please Release Me" instead - a far superior product that works!

3. Please remember that while oxygen is vital, it is not the only requirement to keep fish alive and healthy. Stop using the oxygenator. An aerator combined with Please Release Me is much better.

4. You said you're using frozen water bottles. Good for you! Using straight ice is bad because the water contains chlorine and other chemicals, which is harmful to the bass. So it's good you're using something that doesn't introduce harmful chemicals. That said, be sure you only lower the temp NO MORE than 10 degrees less than the lake temperature. You can put the bass into shock if you go any more than that. A simple pool thermometer will help you out there. And don't use ice unless the water temp is over 70 degrees, as it's not beneficial to use it at lower temperatures.

Hope that helps!

[Bassn Blvd]

Glenn,  Thanks for taking the time to respond.  I just learned a valuable lesson by reading your post and the attachment .  

[RobDar]

If it is an 07 it is under warranty.

I think you need to be a little scientific about this.

I am not disagreeing with you it does sound like you have a problem...but without a comparison...there is no way to eliminate possibilities.

If it were me...

I think I would set up a cooler or a tank as closely to the conditions of my livewell as I could muster...with a circulator, independant power suppply, same size etc...and put caught fish in it and see if they survive.

We had a run here last summer where all the anglers in our tourney just started loosing fish. Started with just one or two and ran up to more than a dozen per tourney. Turned out to be an illness.

by using a seperate tank and power supply you can eliminate the fish as the cause ( but not poisoning)

If they do not die...

I would disconnect my batteries and run a seperate livewell pump off a seperate power supply...

If the fish then live in the livewell...you know it is eletrical.

If they die...

then you know it is a toxicity problem.